Gossip From The Other Side Of The Pond: Jude Talks, George Can't Walk

william faces mecca

Prince William has gone to Mecca. No, silly. He might be his Koran-reading father’s son, but William is not one to make a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest city. William has gone to the Mecca entertainment complex in Reading, Berkshire. It’s eyes down and eyebrows up as Wills buys a £5 book of five tickets and competes for the £20 prizes on offer. “If he had won we were wondering if he would have shouted ‘palace’ instead of ‘house,’” says a “regular.” Indeed. And perhaps William sees the numbers in terms of succession to the throne — Charles after his mum, No. 1; Princess Anne on a racing line, No. 9; I’ll be seeing you, HRH Princess Margarita of Romania, No. 82...

friel free

Where America leads, we Brits are destined to follow. Whether it be nylons, rock ‘n’ roll or soap operas, America invents movements in popular culture and we Brits import them. Would we have therapy without America? Would we even have tired and emotional stars hooked on cocaine and uppers without the United States? And would we be able to see up actress Anna Friel’s skirt had American trailblazer Lindsay Lohan not set the standard? Just days after the tabloid shots of the Lohan love pocket, albeit censored, Friel is the talk of the Diesel U Music Awards in Shoreditch, London. A full-color picture of Anna shows her to be “elegant.” Dressed in a sparkly gold minidress, dangly gold earrings and gold sandals, Anna looks like she has stepped out of the BBC’s swords and sandals story of Rome. And then Anna sits down and “reclines” in her seat. And the Mail is awestruck.

“Perhaps it was a trick of the light,” it supposes, “or lingerie that was a little too neutral.” And a partygoer explains: “I saw her with her skirt riding quite high and to be honest I couldn’t see any evidence of underwear — it was a real shock,” says the eyewitness. “She was smiling broadly, she seemed totally oblivious.” And that is only right. Was it not the Americans who taught British stars that whatever the mood, whatever the scene, it’s on with the show?

mucca attack

Love does not come with a manual. When you meet someone, they arrive in your life as a blank page. Sure, they will form a vital chapter in your autobiography to be serialized in the national press, but to begin with, there is nothing but potential. Unless, of course, you are dating Lady Heather Mills McCartney — in which case there is a manual; it’s called Die Freuden Der Liebe, a German work known among sticky-fingered adolescents and tabloid hacks as Ich Liebe Dich. Not that Ben Amigioni, Heather’s “hunky” fitness instructor, is dating the estranged Lady Mucca. Well, at least not according to 22-year-old Ben. As is reported, Ben has assured his dumped girlfriend, the “heartbroken” Joanne, that he and Heather share only a good working relationship. And Ben has just jetted off to Los Angeles with his employee.

Catch up on more gossip from the other side of the pond at Anorak.co.uk.